Among the twenty-four people, most of the top ones were Li Shimin's advisers, such as Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and Wei Zheng. The names of these four people can be said to be household names, but Li Shimin also had another adviser. He made great contributions to Li

Speaking of the important ministers of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty Li Shimin, the first thing that most people think of is Lingyan Pavilion The Twenty-Four Heroes. Among the twenty-four people, most of the top ones are Li Shimin's advisers, such as Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and Wei Zheng. The names of these four people can be said to be household names, but Li Shimin also had another adviser. He made great contributions to Li Shimin's victory in the world and was highly valued by Li Shimin, but he was rarely known because of his untimely death.

After Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty came to the throne, he once said to Fang Xuanling: If this person is here, he should be punished by Zhongshu Order. Zhongshu Ling During the Li Shimin period, he was the chief of Zhongshu Province, one of the three provinces, which is what we call the prime minister. So who is this person? Why is it praised so highly by Li Shimin?

This unforgettable minister of Li Shimin's name is Xue Shou.

Xue Shou was born in a family of officials. Xue Shou received a good education since he was a child. Xue Shou is very talented and studies very hard. At only twelve years old, he has become famous. He is as famous as his brother Xue Deyin and nephew Xue Yuanjing, and is known as the Three Phoenixes of Hedong.

Xue Shou originally wanted to be an official in the Sui Dynasty like his father, and be a good official who was diligent and caring for the people. However, something unexpected happened, and his father Xue Daoheng was sentenced to death by Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty for praising Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty and Gao Xi. At that time, all the literati in the world felt that Xue Daoheng was unjustly accused, but Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty still executed him.

After hearing the news, Xue was heartbroken and vowed never to serve the Sui Dynasty.

After Li Yuan raised his army, Xue Shou knew that the time had come for his revenge and wanted to go and join Li Yuan. Unfortunately, Puzhou Tongshou Yaojunsu knew that Xue Shou was a great talent and did not want to let him go, so he sent someone to imprison his mother. After Xue Shou learned that his mother was trapped, he still gave up the idea of ​​defecting to Li Yuan and returned to Puzhou City to attach himself to Yao Junsu.

It didn’t take long before rebels sprang up all over the world, and the heroes were divided. Yao Junsu knew that he could not survive in these troubled times by himself, so he planned to go to Luoyang to seek refuge with Wang Shichong. But Xue Shou knew that Wang Shichong was not the master of the Ming Dynasty, so he took his family to join Li Yuan.

Xue Shou, who defected to Li Yuan, soon got acquainted with Fang Xuanling. After some conversation, Fang Xuanling discovered that this man had great talents and recommended Xue Shou to Qin King Li Shimin. . Li Shimin then summoned Xue Shou and asked him about the general situation of the world. Xue Shou's answer coincided with what Li Shimin was thinking, so Li Shimin kept him by his side. Let him serve as the chief secretary of King Qin's palace.

In 621 AD, Li Shimin led an army to attack Wang Shichong who occupied Luoyang. When the two armies were confronting each other, Dou Jiande led his army to rescue Wang Shichong, and the Tang army fell into a bad situation. At that time, Li Shimin's generals persuaded him to withdraw. Only Xue Shou stood up to all the opinions and suggested that Li Shimin use one go to destroy Wang and Dou's armies in one go.

Xue Shou believed that Wang Shichong had limited food and could not fight for a long time, while Dou Jiande's army had traveled a long distance and was exhausted. As long as you seize the opportunity and take the initiative to attack, you can win. However, if you withdraw your troops and allow Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong to meet up and supply each other, by then, the Tang army will definitely not be their opponent.

Li Shimin adopted Xue Shou's suggestion, and indeed defeated Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong and captured them. This battle laid the foundation for Tang Dynasty to unify the world.

Xue Shang not only gave Li Shimin military advice, he also often spoke out and pointed out Li Shimin's shortcomings. For a while, Li Shimin fell in love with safari, which even affected the handling of government affairs. When Xue Shou learned about it, he hurriedly wrote a letter to remonstrate. Li Shimin also accepted the remonstrance humbly and regarded Xue Shou as a confidant.

In 624 AD, Xue Shou fell ill and his health became worse and worse. After learning about it, Li Shimin often sent people to visit him and even put clothes on him himself. However, not long after, Xue Shou died of illness at the age of only thirty-three. After Li Shimin heard the news, he couldn't help but burst into tears.

Xue Shou was born in a Hedong family. He behaved like a gentleman and was filial to his parents. As a counselor, he made suggestions for Li Shimin many times, analyzed the situation, and gave forthright advice. He can be said to be a good minister of his generation. Because of this, even after his death, Li Shimin still thought about Xue Shou and his minister.